Mexico · Mexico · Cabo Marina
One marina, four kinds of day out, and a granite headland twenty minutes from the dock that every single boat here is built around.
Quick answer
Seven well-reviewed boats leave the Cabo San Lucas marina, and the cheapest is also the best rated: a two-hour Arch and Lover's Beach run with snorkelling at $74, carrying 4.9★ from 359 reviews. Above it sit the three things that short run cannot do — a catamaran east to Santa Maria bay at $77, a whale trip at $99 that exists only from December to April, and sunset boats from $99.
All of it departs from one harbour but not from one place. The marina's docks ring the inner basin behind Puerto Paraiso; pangas also load off the sand at Playa El Medano; and a listing that says "Los Cabos" can mean Puerto Los Cabos in San Jose, thirty kilometres up the corridor. The dock section sorts out which is which.
The honest alternative is the water taxi: about 20 dollars, roughly 400 pesos, for the same rocks, the same sea lions and a drop on Lover's Beach — cheap and limited in equal measure, and the arithmetic is below. What nobody mentions at the dock is the CONANP bracelet, 125 pesos a head, in the fees block.
Compare
The five kinds of day out that leave this marina, with the cheapest well-reviewed example of each. Prices, ratings and durations are the operators' own figures from the listings below, re-checked in September 2026; the last column is the thing that decides it.
| Type of day | Time out | You get off the boat | From | What decides it | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arch, sea lions, Lover's Beach | 2 hours | Wet landing on the sand | $74 | The whole postcard in one short morning | Details |
| Catamaran snorkel, Santa Maria | 3 hours | In the water, not on a beach | $77 | Reef fish rather than rock formations | Details |
| Whale watching | 2 hours | No | $99 | Only runs December to April | Details |
| Sunset cruise with dinner | 2 hours | No | $99 | Evening, a meal, no swimming | Details |
| Private charter | 3 hours | Your call, with the captain | $799 | Per boat, not per seat — breaks even near ten | Details |
The boats
Every boat below is currently bookable from the Cabo San Lucas marina and carries its operator's own rating and review count. Prices are per person unless the card says the boat is private, in which case the figure buys the hull for the whole group. Re-checked in September 2026.
4.9★ (359 reviews) · 2 hours · from $74
4.9★ (318 reviews) · 2 hours · from $99
4.5★ (120 reviews) · 3 hours · from $77
4.5★ (110 reviews) · 4 hours · from $111
4.5★ (58 reviews) · 2 hours · from $99
4.8★ (50 reviews) · 3 hours · from $799
4.4★ (29 reviews) · 3 hours · from $199
The docks
Cabo San Lucas has a single sheltered basin, but boarding points are scattered around it, and the biggest error here is not the wrong dock — it is driving to the wrong town.
The Cabo San Lucas marina wraps the inner harbour beneath the Puerto Paraiso mall, and its docks are lettered and numbered around that horseshoe: Dock A in front of the Marina Fiesta hotel, Docks 3 and 4 on the water-taxi side, others by pier letter or by the shop unit where you check in. Berths get reassigned when boats swap slips, so most confirmations name a check-in desk thirty minutes ahead rather than a berth, and several operators state outright that the departure point can change at short notice. Read the message the night before. A marina access charge of roughly one to two dollars per person, cash, is taken at the gate; it is not in your booking and the collectors do not take cards.
Playa El Medano, the swimming beach on the east side of the bay, is the other boarding point. Pangas run up onto the sand in front of the beach clubs; you wade out to knee depth and climb over the bow. No dock, no gate fee, no timetable, and no shelter for anything that should not get wet.
Puerto Los Cabos, in San Jose del Cabo, is a different marina thirty kilometres east along the corridor, and some listings sold as "Los Cabos" leave from there. If your voucher names San Jose, Puerto Los Cabos or La Playita, it is not the marina in the photographs.
| Boarding point | What leaves from it | Distance from downtown Cabo | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabo San Lucas marina, dock side | Catamarans, whale boats, the galleon, private charters | Walkable from downtown | Cash access fee at the gate; check in 30 minutes early, not at the berth |
| Marina Docks 3 and 4 | Water taxis and glass-bottom pangas to the Arch | Five minutes from Puerto Paraiso | The organised end of the water-taxi trade — fixed spot, negotiable price |
| Playa El Medano | Pangas off the sand | Ten to fifteen minutes around the bay | Wet boarding; agree price and pickup time before you get in |
| Puerto Los Cabos, San Jose del Cabo | Corridor departures sold as "Los Cabos" | About 30 km east, 30–40 min by road | A separate marina — check the town on the voucher |
| Cruise tender landing | Ships' tenders from the anchorage | Inside the marina, by the water-taxi docks | Cabo has no cruise pier; swell can suspend the tenders |
The arithmetic
There is a working local alternative to every boat on this page, it goes to the same headland, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest — so here is the sum, and here is what the cheap version leaves out.
Shared glass-bottom pangas run all day from Docks 3 and 4 and off the sand at Medano. The rate reported by the local press, including The Cabo Sun, is about 20 dollars, roughly 400 pesos, per person for the loop past Pelican Rock, the sea lion colony and El Arco. Captains open at forty, fifty, sometimes sixty and settle at twenty when you hold the number; pesos beat dollars, because the boat sets its own exchange rate. Most will drop you on Lover's Beach and collect you later at no extra charge, but that is a handshake — fix the pickup time out loud before you step off.
Two people therefore see Land's End for roughly 800 pesos, against 148 dollars for the same two seats on the cheapest guided boat. What the 800 pesos does not buy: gear and a stop where you get in the water; a guide who knows which rock the colony hauls out on; the CONANP bracelet you are supposed to hold either way; a manifest, so nobody ashore knows you are out there; and a refund when the harbour master shuts the port. Nor the corridor — no water taxi runs to Santa Maria, which is why the catamaran exists.
The test cuts the other way at the top. The private boat at $799 looks absurd beside a $74 seat until you count heads: at twenty people it works out under forty dollars each with food and an open bar included.
The boats
Five hull types work this bay, and the difference between them is shade, stability and how far east they may take you — with this port's own prices attached.
| Boat | Typical trip | From | Shade and stability | Where it can go |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panga / water taxi | Arch, sea lions, Lover's Beach drop | About 400 pesos | Open, no shade, lively in chop | Land's End only |
| Small motor boat | Arch and Lover's Beach with snorkelling | $74 | Partial shade, close to the rocks | Land's End and the near bays |
| Catamaran | Santa Maria snorkel, open bar | $77 | Wide, steady, deck shade | The corridor east to Santa Maria |
| Large cruise boat | Four-hour snorkelling cruise | $111 | Ignores ordinary chop | Land's End plus a long bay stop |
| Galleon replica | Sunset show and dinner | $99 | Two decks, seating, dinner aboard | The bay and Land's End at dusk |
| Yacht or private charter | Chef dinner · private day boat | $199 · $799 per boat | The most comfortable thing afloat here | Wherever the captain agrees |
Prices
Three price bands, drawn from the seven listings on this page rather than from an average of the market.
$74 buys two hours, the Arch, the sea lions, a snorkel stop and a landing on Lover's Beach at 4.9★ from 359 reviews — the highest-rated boat here happens to be the cheapest. $77 buys an hour longer on a catamaran with an open bar and the run east to Santa Maria instead. Neither is a compromise; they are different days.
Above the entry price you pay for something the short run cannot do. $99 is the whale trip, which exists only from December to April. $99 is the galleon at dusk with dinner and a show. $111 is four hours, the longest time in the water here. $199 is the yacht: fewer guests, a chef, the sunset without the show.
$799 takes one to twenty people for three hours with food and an open bar, at 4.8★. For a couple it is indefensible; for twelve it lands near sixty-five dollars a head with drinks and lunch included, which beats twelve seats on any shared boat here.
Season
Sea temperatures are the long-term monthly averages published by Climates to Travel; the sailing notes are what the season does to this particular harbour, which has both a whale calendar and a hurricane one.
Two calendars matter here and they barely overlap. The whale season is December to April under Mexico's federal rules, with January to March the months when a two-hour trip almost always finds humpbacks; grey whales pass on the Pacific side, but the reliable grey-whale lagoons are far north at Magdalena Bay, a long day trip rather than a boat ride from this marina. Book the whale boat outside that window and you are booking an ordinary bay cruise. The hurricane season runs June to November, worst in September; Climates to Travel notes that November has historically never had one.
What cancels boats, though, is mar de fondo — long-period ground swell thrown north by storms far down the Pacific coast, arriving under a blue sky and a light breeze, roughly mid-May to the end of November. When it hits, the capitania de puerto closes the harbour to vessels under 500 gross tons, which is every boat on this page, and beaches go to red or black flags. Even when boats sail, the port authority suspends landings on Lover's Beach while the surge runs.
| Month | Sea | On the water | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| December | 25 °C (77 °F) | Whale season opens | Humpbacks arrive; warm sea, busy harbour |
| January – February | 22 – 23 °C (72 – 73 °F) | Peak whales | The most reliable sightings and the calmest sea of the year; coolest water too |
| March | 22 °C (72 °F) | Peak whales, peak crowds | Whale numbers hold and so do prices; book the small boats days ahead |
| April | 22.5 °C (73 °F) | Whale season closes | The last humpbacks leave; snorkel visibility at its best |
| May | 23.5 °C (74 °F) | All boats, no whales | Quiet, clear, cheap. Pacific swell season opens mid-month |
| June | 24.5 °C (76 °F) | All boats | Hurricane season opens; nothing usually happens yet |
| July – August | 27 – 29 °C (81 – 84 °F) | All boats, hot | Bath-warm sea and the first serious ground swells |
| September | 29 °C (84 °F) | Cancellation month | Warmest sea of the year, and when hurricanes hit most often |
| October | 28.5 °C (83 °F) | All boats return | Storm risk drops through the month; water still very warm |
| November | 27 °C (81 °F) | The quiet sweet spot | Warm sea, no hurricane on record, whales not quite in yet |
Extras
Cabo has fewer pier-side surcharges than most Mexican ports, but two of them are cash-only and one of them is a federal charge almost nobody mentions at the dock.
Land's End is not simply scenery: the bay, the Arch, Pelican Rock and the sea lion haul-outs sit inside the Area de Proteccion de Flora y Fauna Cabo San Lucas, a federal protected area run by CONANP, whose own visitor page sets the conservation bracelet at 125 pesos per person per day — under-twelves, seniors and visitors with disabilities exempt, reduced rates for students and Mexican nationals. Some operators fold it into the ticket, some hand you the wristband at the dock and ask for cash. Ask which, and keep it on: it covers the day, not the trip.
The same designation shapes how the boats behave. Under NOM-131-SEMARNAT, the federal marine-mammal observation standard, captains hold off the sea lion colony rather than nosing into it, whale boats keep their distance and are limited in how long they may stay with a group, and swimming with whales is prohibited outright. Nor does any tour land beneath the Arch itself; that sand is exposed to surge and falling rock. Lover's Beach is the one landing on this bay, and only when the port authority allows it.
| Item | Amount | Who collects it | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| CONANP conservation bracelet | 125 pesos per person, per day | CONANP, Cabo San Lucas protected area | Any trip into Land's End; under-12s, seniors and disabled visitors exempt |
| Marina access fee | About 1–2 dollars, cash | The marina, at the gate | Every marina departure; not collected at Medano |
| Water-taxi fare | About 400 pesos, negotiable | The panga captain, cash | The do-it-yourself alternative; pesos beat dollars |
| Crew tip | 10–15% is the local norm | The crew, at the end | Open-bar boats in particular |
| Transfer from San Jose del Cabo | Taxi or shuttle, 30–40 minutes | The driver | If you are on the corridor rather than downtown |
On the water
Everything leaves the marina at the top of the bay and turns left around the headland: Land's End, the Arch, Lover's Beach and the sea lion colony are inside twenty minutes, Santa Maria and Chileno a further half hour east.
Questions
Every boat here goes to it — the Arch is twenty minutes from the marina and is why the fleet exists. The cheapest guided version is $74 for two hours, adding Pelican Rock, the sea lion colony, a snorkel stop and a landing on Lover's Beach. The bare version is a shared water taxi from Docks 3 and 4 at around 400 pesos. Nobody lands underneath the Arch itself: that sand is exposed to surge and falling rock.
From $74 for two hours at Land's End with snorkelling, up to $799 for a private boat taking one to twenty people for three hours with food and an open bar. In between, $77 puts you on a catamaran to Santa Maria, $111 buys the longest snorkel session here, and the sunset boats run $99 to $199. Add the cash marina access fee and the 125-peso protected-area bracelet.
It varies by operator and it can move. The marina wraps the inner basin below Puerto Paraiso with lettered and numbered docks — Dock A by the Marina Fiesta hotel, Docks 3 and 4 on the water-taxi side, others by pier letter or check-in unit. Most operators ask you at a desk thirty minutes ahead rather than at a berth, and several state that the point can change at short notice. See the dock section.
Yes, when conditions allow — it is the one beach on this bay where tours put passengers ashore, and it is a wet landing: you step off the bow into knee-deep water. When a mar de fondo swell is running, the port authority suspends drop-offs there while still allowing boats to tour the bay, so a trip can sail and skip the landing. Ask before you pay whether that refunds anything; on the boat that includes it the beach is most of the point.
Land's End sits inside the Area de Proteccion de Flora y Fauna Cabo San Lucas, and CONANP's own visitor page prices the conservation bracelet at 125 pesos per person per day. Children under twelve, seniors and visitors with disabilities are exempt; students and Mexican nationals pay less. Some operators include it, some collect cash at the dock — ask which, and carry pesos. A separate marina access fee of one to two dollars is taken at the gate.
The federal whale-watching season runs December to April, and January to March is when a two-hour trip almost always finds humpbacks off Land's End; the whale boat at $99 only makes sense inside that window. Mexican law under NOM-131-SEMARNAT prohibits swimming with whales, caps how long a vessel may stay with a group and requires permitted operators.
Ground swell, far more often than wind. Mar de fondo — long-period swell thrown north by storms down the Pacific coast — arrives under clear skies from roughly mid-May to the end of November, and when it does the capitania de puerto closes the harbour to vessels under 500 gross tons, which covers every boat here. Beaches go to red or black flags. Hurricane season is June to November, worst in September. Morning departures sail far more reliably than afternoon ones.
No — there is no scheduled passenger ferry across the mouth of the Gulf, and the boats in this marina are day boats that stay inside the bay and the corridor. Mexico's Baja ferry routes run from La Paz, about two hours north by road, across to Mazatlan and Topolobambo. From Cabo, Puerto Vallarta is a flight.
Different, and worth the extra hour. Land's End gives you granite, the sea lion colony and Pelican Rock in clear but surge-prone water. Santa Maria and Chileno, half an hour east along the corridor, are protected coves where fishing and anchoring are banned and the reef fish show it — which is what the catamaran at $77 and the four-hour cruise at $111 buy you.
Nearby
Or browse every boat tour and day cruise by port.
The other end of the same Pacific migration — grey whales pass here on the way down to Baja
Whale & harbour cruising ▸ CancunMexicoMexico's Caribbean side, where the boats are about reef and Isla Mujeres rather than granite
Catamaran & reef sailing ▸ CozumelMexicoThe clearest water in Mexico, and a genuine cruise pier instead of Cabo's tender anchorage
Catamaran & reef sailing ▸